Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1887-02-26
A FIERCE CONTEST.
r..cription Of = Thrilling Encounter DC
tween Man and Catamouut'

Description OF , lhEiii'hs
tween Man and Catamount'
Hon Luke 7. Poland, Of Watervllle al
though seveuty-nve years old, IS YET maze
and hearty, and can relate an auetde'e 10
,s c,ad stvle as ever, The tolowIHS' re
',.s3 by himself 70 the RrattleooropSh
ytN plsufr, wa 4 youthful experience
n his, and is worthy 81 pcrusal' Nv men
was a bow said the judge, "the wood
IN Vermont were mighty thick ana inc
settlers were few Al that time the WooaS
,vsre full Of catamouutS Or lo~up-oerFler-
lno-sevee,' the hunters called them-and
,he farmers had great 10 do 10 keep tue
6er,e beasts from carrying on their sheep
and killing their cattle, \ loup-cerVier IS
pretty nearly as big rs a masuf, as her'e
n A tiger. and as strong as a lion, and IS
altogether, about as uncomtortaole
a creature 10 deal with as
ever lived. My father had
with him on his farm then Il maj named
Jonas Shepherd, a fellow Of prodlgloNs
strength and such great courage that de
no, believe he ever knew the sensation OF
fear. Ny father had net lost much by the
lnup-cerviers, because he had kept ms
stock securely inclosed III a strong she'd
which none Of the proving beasts hadyet
succeeded in breaking into. The house
stood on the edge of a clearing, and back
Of II for miles and miles there was notA'
ing but the mountains and woods, One
night the family had all gone 10 bed ey'
cent Shepherd, who sat up by the big pine
fire shelliug corn with a lack-knlte stuck
IN a log ofwood, All Of a sudden he heard
A crash from the cattle-shed and q big
noise among the cattle, He dashed cut in
his shirt-sleeves and found that an enor-
nous loup-cervier, the biggest Of has KIND
ever seen in the country, had broken IN
the roof Of the shed and was in among the
sheep
"As o o as it heard shepherd approach
ing il Jumped 10 tAe roof OF the she'd anu,
crouching for a moment, sprang through
the air for the intruder, shepherd jumped
aside, and the big cat landed harmlessly
on the ground. In at instant 1t was up
again, and a furious battle between the
man and the savage brute began. Shep'
herd had a knife, and for a while he tried
to make it reach a vital spot, while the
loo screamed. and bit, and tore its ire
| mendous claws through the mans flesh.
The noise of the fight awakened therest OF
the family. and father, grabbing up a pine
torch, was Just in time to see a curious
spectacle. shepherd, without a stitch OF
clothing on. covered from head tc
foot with blood, was holding the
screaming, struggling loo by the throat
and heels high above his head, and run
ming as fast as he could toward the
woods. We all dashed after him, and
were Just in tlme 10 see the end of the
contest. Shepherd ran into the brook I'M
til he was in to his waist, and Their
plunged the fcrocious beast in out OF
sight. There was a tremendous struggle
for a few minutes, during Wltlch Shep
| herds blood died the brook red, and Their
every thing was still. Fhen shepherd
came out, dragging the crowned body o.
the loo after him. We got HIM to bed az
| soon as we could, and did every thing pos
sible to relieve him, but it was more than
| three months before he was able to stir
and he never quite recovered. Ny
| father said he counted more than two hun
| bred distinct wounds on his body, OlC
hunters said that if he had not had sens
| enough to drown the brute, he would hay'
been killed sure. The fight took place
where one of the finest houses OF worship
in New England stands tO-day.n